The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-16

truly his mother When I brought them
face to face his demeanor was exactly the
same as in the two previous instances. He
called her mother asked about other men,
bers of the family, and was not i'm the least
embarrassed to keep up . conversation
lasting an hour He did not shed . tear
nor evince the least emotion, while she was
greatly broken down. She WIS the third
mother who had identified him her son,
while one mother had been assisted by the
father What was to be thought Of such .
strange state of affairs Who Of the thres
were mistaken, Why did FOxen permit
each OF the trio TO identify him and weep
over him,
did not double the watch ON him, know
ing that the one man was trusty in every
sense of the word Understand had two
men-one for day and one for night; but
while one watched the other slept. The
watch sat at the door OF the corridor on q
chair-inside Of course. There were six
cells i'm there all Of which were locked ex-
cept the one occupied by Foxen, and | had
the key in my own pocket Each door had
a state prison paddock, and the key had not
entered one Of them since Foxen was placed
in the corridor. l am just as certain that
the five cells were locked as l am that
breathe at this moment So was the death
watch to the day of his own death. Two
days after the last mother called, the bell,
which the watch WAS instructed to pull In
case anything happened, sounded in my ears
at midnight, and rumbled out Of bed and
ran down stairs without stopping for any
thing
Hes gone.'' were the words which
greeted me "a / reached tbs heavy door on
the inside Of which the Waterman stood.
l unlocked the door and went in and
locked it after me. Foxen's cell was At the
further end and his door WAS wide open.
walked to il and looked in. His bed was
empty, was the cell.
II can't make it out" whispered the
watch who pale and trembling. He
went to bed about . O'Clock I looked in on
him every half hour, and each time he
seemed to be sleeping. At IL 80 he was on
the broad OF his back with hands locked
under his neck. At midnight he was gone. "
You might have slept"
.'On my life, no; but if l had, the door
was locked when you came down, and you
SEE the bars to the windows all right"
Il examined each bar in turn and then
passed along the front of the cells and
flashed the light into each. In the third cell
sat Foxen, arms folded, eyes looking into
mine, and his face wearing n sneering ex-
preston. When l unlocked the paddock
and IN telling you that did have to I'M
lock it-and opened the door he came out
the bed. The bottoms, tops and sides of
those cells were of great hagstones and
boiler iron. Aside from the regular entrance
by the door there was no way by which
even a mouse could make his way in. How
mad Foxen accomplished IL, As We asked
this question of each other-the watch and
I've had pale faces. Perhaps you will ar
que that the paddock on that particular
door was after all unlocked, and that he
i'm, Inv hx In FIRST
in reply, he could not have left his cell with
out arousing the watch, even had the latter
been doing, which was barely possible. In
the next place how could he replace the
paddock after enterings l have no theories
about it. l am relating incidents just as
they occurred, and it is for you to form
theories.
Just a week before the day fixed for his
execution Foxen called me into the corridor
Just as he had awakened from = sleep last
ing several hours He had more inquiry
and anxiety in his face than had ever de-
tected before.
did l kill any one''' he brusquely de-
manded, as he stopped short in his walk.
looked full into his face TO zee IL he was
joking, but there was nothing but serious
ness there.
you killed a farmer named Stevens
about five monhs ago, and q week from to-
WHAT he screamed, almost jumping
clear of the floor.
I repeated the statement.
my God. nor he gasped II did not
kill him, They must not hang me!'
The evidence against You was posi-
tive that the lawyer assigned you could not
find the slightest foothold to help you
There are the blood stains on your gar
ments to this day.
81 ~. ~
peated in an incredulous tone. who was
my lawyer Where is her l must see him
at once"
1T is too late. No lawyer can save you
now. Tomorrow l shall begin the erection
of the gallows."
AS he looked at me his face paled, he
trembled in every limb, and his eyes dilated
as the eyes Of one beholding some frighfful
apparition. He was no more Foxen in look
than he was like the man he murdered.
would, indeed, have sworn that he was some
one elisa man whom had never seen be-
fore.
Good God. but b Il so,'' he walled out,
lifting his arms high over his head; and
then he dropped down ON . stool and held
his face in his hands for long time.
went softly out, feeling . sympathy for him
for the first time, and when he rose up il
was to 60 his cell without another word. An
hour later he came out. Il was Foxen
again, churlish, distrustful, defiant
Next morning I began the erection Of the
gallows. The site for il was directly in
front Of one Of the corridor windows, and
Foxen could not help but Sc what was
going on. He watched the men at work for
an hour without saying . word. Then he
suddenly turned to the watch and inquired:
lis 1t the gallows.''
Yes"
For me.''
Yes"
A look Of puzzled wondermens came TO
his face, and was succeeded by that same ex-
preston OF terror. He gasped several times
before he could get his voice, and then
moaned: 1T wasn't me-oh e couldn't
have been metz
With that he walked away to his cell, and
At noontime the watch went in to arouse
| him and fouud him dead and cold Ths